Paul McCartney’s upcoming solo album is set to include a new collaboration with Ringo Starr.
The Beatles icon will release ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ on May 29 (pre-order here), his first since 2020’s ‘McCartney III’. It will see McCartney revealing previously unshared memories of his formative years in Liverpool, in what has been described as his “most introspective album to date”.
As confirmed by Billboard, the record will also include ‘Home To Us’, which will see him duet with his old bandmate Starr. The track has been labelled as reminiscent of the classic Beatles sound, and it sees the two trading vocals line-by-line, while Starr also contributes drums to the track.
The song reportedly also includes contributions from Chrissie Hynde and Sharleen Spiteri, but as McCartney has explained, Ringo’s involvement came together late in the process.
“I saw Ringo and said I worked with this guy Andrew [Watt, producer],” he said. “Ringo came over to Andrew’s studio and played a little bit of drums.”
From there, there was a series of misunderstandings, with Starr being a “bit pissed” with Watt when he was led to believe that his contribution was not enough, but McCartney was inspired to finish the song, focusing it on their childhoods in Liverpool.
He sent his demo to Starr and asked him to sing on it, but in another misunderstanding, Starr only sang on the chorus, leading McCartney to think Starr didn’t like the song. In the end, however, Starr added more drums and vocals, resulting in the finished product.
‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ is said to find McCartney “in a candid, vulnerable and deeply reflective mood, writing with rare openness about his childhood in post-war Liverpool, the resilience of his parents, and early adventures shared with George Harrison and John Lennon long before the world had ever heard of Beatlemania”.
The first taste of the record arrived last month in the form of the tender single ‘Days We Left Behind’, which takes McCartney back to the days of “smoky bars and cheap guitar” and you can listen to it above.
McCartney has recently been celebrating his post-Beatles life and time with Wings, publishing the book The Story Of A Band On The Run last year ahead of an anthology collection album and the acclaimed documentary Man On The Run – which NME described as painting him as ” goofy and a little corny, but always endearingly himself”.
Starr, meanwhile, releases his own 22nd solo album ‘Long Long Road’ on April 24 via UMe and you can pre-order that here. It sees him joined by St. Vincent, Sheryl Crow and Billy Strings and has been produced by T-Bone Burnett.
Last year saw The Beatles’ ‘Anthology’ celebrated with a new book, expanded album and the legendary documentary series expanded to nine episodes. Filming also continues on Sam Mendes’ four Beatles biopics, starring Paul Mescal as McCartney, Joseph Quinn as Harrison, Harris Dickinson as Lennon and Barry Keoghan as Starr, set for release in 2028.
